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Water reclamation from human urine will be the basis of the closed loop Water Recovery Management (WRM) system on Space Station Freedom (SSF). Pretreatment is necessary to collect and process urine, fix and prevent ammonia formation, inhibit microbial growth and prevent solids precipitation. Pretreatment must be accomplished immediately upon collection to prevent damage to urine collection and handling equipment. Currently, a chemical injection scheme is an integral part of the SSF Urinal design. The reagents used will be based on compatibility with Urinal and Urine Processor components, performance of necessary pretreatment functions, quality of reclaimed water, resupply costs and development risks. These factors are compared for various pretreatment methods currently under consideration for use on SSF.

Exhaustive testing and analysis of Vapor Compression Distillation technology has proven its overall readiness as a wastewater processor for the recovery of water in orbiting and interplanetary spacecraft. In conjunction with Boeing Aerospace and Electronics and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Life Systems' technical team has been focusing on verifying and improving performance characteristics, micro-gravity compatibility, reliability and maintainability aspects of the Vapor Compression Distillation design. Amassing thousands of hours of testing and recent breakthroughs in the area of peristaltic pump design, product water conductivity sensing and gas/liquid separation concepts have substantially increased the engineering and scientific database that has been accumulating over the past 29 years.